post-mortem of the 2018 round
So this one's a little late, but we needed some time to regroup once posting was done and we looked back at how this round of the reversebang went.
There are a few things we want to address, so here goes.
First of all, we want to thank everyone who has participated in the reversebang this year - to all the artists who contributed amazing pieces of art, to all the authors who put time and hard work into writing stories to accompany those art pieces, to our unsung heroes the Beta readers who helped make those stories even more awesome, and to every single one of our pinch hitters who stepped in at a short notice to write their stories: thank you so much for being part of this event and for dedicating your time to it.
We're so glad that there's interest in events like this and it's so awesome to see you guys having fun!
We also want to throw out a thank you to everyone who decided to join in on the Discord server: we hope you had as much fun on there as we did, and we hope it helped to have that little extra bit of community layer added to the reversebang :D
Now for a few organizational notes:
the RB Discord isn't closing down anytime soon, but we're still not sure how it's going to be reorganized. If you've been a part of it this year, you can continue chatting away there as you did, we'll make server-specific announcements on there
the fics that haven't been added to the AO3 collection will receive an invite (and an email about it from us, in case you don't have alerts for this set up on AO3). We'd appreciate if you accepted that invite so that all stories are tidily compiled in one place for any future readers out there.
there will be a masterlist page on the blog (as there is for the 2017 round) once we put everything together and make the page itself
all the fics for this (and last) year can be found via the links listed on the sidebar of the blog - "srb fic round up" tag for the fic and "srb art post" for the art pieces.
we will do a feedback poll - as we did last year - to ask what you did or didn't like about the event.
the Feedback Bingo is still in full force - keep reading and commenting and collecting those details about what you (especially the readers) did. We'll be back with more details about everything related to it closer to the end of the month.
On the slightly less cheerful note:
We know that you all overwhelmingly voted Yes on the poll about another round of the RB. We hear you. As of now, we're not making any promises. As mods, we want to look back on this round and the last, and think hard about our own lives and commitments before we make a final decision - we'll let you know.
However, for full transparency on why this isn't a simple decision to make:
Running an event is time-consuming and exhausting. This year real life seemed to have it out for making it even harder than usual, which was entirely out of our control - which is why this post, too, is later than we would've wanted it to be.
There are also things that make it tempting to jump right in and announce the next round: the participation, the art and stories that came out of the RB, the friendships we and others made along the way, the fun during the event (the daggers and sacrifices and blood-letting!! ;))
But there are also things that make us hesitate. The amount of those who signed up, committed to participating, but then went missing without saying anything. The amount of extra work that we had to put in to get the event running (reminders about check-ins, about posting, about communicating between the matched pairs during the event, the repeated queries about rules outlined on our blog...)
We both understand that life gets in the way unexpectedly sometimes. Our own lives this, this year more so than last. But because of this, we do need those who sign up to communicate (with us, with whoever they're working with) about these issues as much as possible. To know what you're signing up for (check-in dates are always laid out beforehand, so you can plan for them in advance). And to be reasonably confident that this is something you can do. This is especially true for the author side of the event - once you commit and claim art, it's not just us you're letting down. We also need you to be able to communicate your thoughts to us and to your collab partners - tell them about squicks and triggers, about ideas you like or don't, about your availability for contact during the event, about how you work and what you're willing to share as you work.
And we really need everyone to read the rules: check-ins, requirements, deadlines, communication options, etc. We've always made it very clear that we're up for answering queries if anything isn't made completely clear in our rules or answered in our FAQ and queries tag. And yet, both years there were things that some people ignored or questions they had that were already answered before. (guys, there's only so many times we can answer "what's the minimum wordcount?" before it gets frustrating).
So, with all that in mind, we're discussing the possibility of the next round. There are going to be changes again about how the event is run, about rules and guidelines and our own side of the communication and how to make it all easier for everyone involved. IF there is another round, there may be more restrictions and there may be conditions for signing up, but there will also hopefully be changes that make all this easier for you and for us.
At the end of the day, we want this to be a fun part of our fandom and something that everyone (including us) is looking forward to. For our part, we really hope that those of you who took part did enjoy the reversebang, that you maybe found new friends and discovered new creators, and that you're not left disappointed.
